Marriott International, a leading international hotel group, has announced plans to increase the number of its hotel rooms outside of North America by more than 30 per cent by the end of 2009, with a global total of nearly 600,000 rooms.
At a meeting, held in Paris, the company focused on hotel development opportunities around the world and discussed unit growth expectations.
In North America, Marriott plans to add 58,000 to 69,000 rooms through 2009, driven by conversions and ground-up select service hotel construction.
The chain will add 12,000 to 14,000 rooms in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region, increasing the total in the region to 60,000-62,000 by the end of 2009. Marriott’s hotel room growth in Asia is forecast to range between 11,000 and 12,000 rooms, with Ritz-Carlton accounting for almost a quarter of that increase. In the Caribbean and Latin America, Marriott plans to add 4,000 to 5,000 rooms by year-end 2009.
The company cited international expansion as one of the linchpins of its strategy. With a less than one percent market share outside the United States, Marriott’s experienced global development engine, its proven business model of managing and franchising, and its preferred brands should drive powerful growth. Up to 60 percent of additions to the company’s full-service brands are expected to come from openings outside the US and Canada.
A targeted effort to optimise Marriott’s capital structure, together with strong cash flow from operations and capital recycling, should fuel the company’s significant growth as well as aggressive stock repurchases, it said.
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